Golden Globe Post-Show Commentary

Let me just say first that I am not a proper authority for television commentary. Only for Film.

And on that let me dive in.

The Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) did much better than last year in terms of deserved awards.

The Golden Globes decide to split things up into Comedy and Drama. This year they still had a few hiccups determining which was which. Most obviously, Michelle Williams won for the film, My Week with Marilyn; an award well deserved. However, she won said award in the Comedy or Musical section: a calamity that the hilarious Seth Rogan luckily commented on in announcing her victory.  

However, in dividing up the categories as such, they are allowed to choose victors for reasons other than those of the members of academy. For instance, (500) Days of Summer (2009) was arguably better than the winner of the Comedy or Musical category the year, The Hangover (2009). However, that is perfectly expectable. Obviously, they were not choosing the category’s victor based on pure quality, but rather on pure humor. I have no problem with this, however it makes the awards some what unpredictable. This year, The Artist  was the best movie in its category, and Midnight in Paris was the next best. Yet, the film I thought would have a decent shot at this award – more so than Midnight – was Kristin Wiig’s  Bridesmaids. Why? Because its compared to The Hangover, and – while I did not yet see 50/50 – the only other truly  funny movie in the category was Midnight. So the question came: Will the HFPA award the best or the funniest? In the end, I was delighted to see the former get the glory, winning 3 of its 6 nominations: Best Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical, Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy for Jean Dujardin, and Best Original Score – Motion Picture for Ludovic Bource.

The Help took home only 1 of its 6 nominations; that being Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture for Octavia Spencer. Leading us to the biggest surprise of the night: Meryl Streep’s victory. No one knows how it happened. Viola Davis was supposed to win it, and quite frankly, I thought that Rooney Mara deserved the award for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo know that Michelle Williams was placed in her weird category. And guess what? Meryl knew that. She knew she shouldn’t have won. She made that clear in her acceptance speech.

What other surprises were there? Only three others. One of which was the defeat of Jim Rash, Nat Faxon, and Alexander Payne’s screenplay for The Descendants, after the victory of Woody Allen’s Midnight in Paris. Woody Allen is on a role. Not only did he score a nomination for Best Director – Motion Picture a victory for  Best Screenplay – Motion Picture here, but he also just received a coveted nomination for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Films from the DGA (The Directors Guild of America). (He has won said DGA award once for Annie Hall (1977), and was nominated for Manhattan (1979), Hannah and her Sisters (1986) and Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989), and in 1996, receiving a Lifetime Achievement Award.)

Surprise number 2: That Madonna’s W.E. beat out both Albert Nobbs and The Help for Best Original Song – Motion Picture.  W.E.’s song was intitled Masterpiece and the music & lyrics were written by Madonna, Julie Frost, and Jimmy Harry.  Albert Nobbs featured a song with music by Brian Byrne and lyrics by Glenn Close, herself, entitled Lay Your Head Down. The song The Living Proof  earned  a nomination for The Help with music by Mary J. Blige, Harvey Mason Jr., and Thomas Newman; lyrics by Mary J. Blige, Harvey Mason Jr., Thomas Newman, and Damon Thomas. Also, no nominations for The Muppets! An outrage!

 

Surprise number 3: This is not really a surprise. There are three nominees this year that could win Best Director come Oscar night: Martin Scorsese for Hugo, Michael Hazanavicius for The Artist and Alexander Payne for The Descendants. Choosing Scorsese helps to clarify this race, if only slightly.

 

– Lane J. Lubell